Her Red Chucks
by nickylee94
Summary: Aj Lee and CM Punk had been best friends since Aj first started NXT. During their story line together, feelings they had pushed to the back of their minds begin to surface. Find out what was really going on back stage during their Summer story line and possibly after it. AJ/Punk More chapters to follow, hopefully, depending on the response I get from the 1st one!
1. Prologue

**September 2010**

AJ had just walked backstage after her first episode of NXT. She skipped around searching for her best friend when Kaitlyn caught up and handed her a water.

"You were amazing Aj! I know I've said it before but I can't believe we made it!" She grabbed Aj and the two jumped up and down squealing.

"We are going to kick ass here," Aj mused, "WWE won't know what hit them!" The two were so thrilled they didn't notice someone watching them.

"Errhem," Eva Marie grumbled.

Aj spun around, "Oh, hey Nat!", she greeted her best friend. Eva gave a smug smile, she didn't seem to pleased by what she had just saw. Kaitlyn noticed the awkwardness of the situation, "Okay, well I'll see you later Aj!" and left rather quickly. Eva, arms crossed, never took her eyes off of Aj. They had been best friends since they were in Florida Championship Wrestling with each other. Her jealousy got a hold of her when Aj was getting more attention by the wrestling scouts then she was. The fact that Aj got moved up and she didn't had caused an even bigger rift in their friendship because of the jealousy.

Aj knew Eva was jealous and it made her feel terrible. She did her best to get Eva attention, like tonight she brought her to her first NXT show. She knew Eva's jealousy got even worse when Kaitlyn was around. Truth was, Aj thought of Kaitlyn as more of a friend than Eva. Since it was rumored that she and Kaitlyn were being moved up, Eva made her jealousy more apparent. She would diss Aj's ring gear, wrestling style, and even things that had nothing to do with wrestling. Aj recalled a memory of when her and Eva were shoe shopping.

"So since we already have tight dresses from those wrestling photo shoots we just need heels." Eva babbled. Aj rolled her eyes, "Nat, we already have heels and I can't afford to buy anymore." Now it was Eva's turn to roll her eyes.

"No, you know I can never have enough heels. You on the other had only have two pairs of shoes. Those black one inch heels that aren't sexy enough to get you noticed at a club and those ugly red Chuck Taylors," as Eva said this she looked down to glare at the "red eye sores" Aj was wearing at the moment.

"Hey! Come on you know I need to save money for wrestling and I love my Chucks!" Aj defended herself.

"April," Eva used Aj's real name when she wanted to make sure her best friend knew she was serious, "no WWE scout will take you seriously if they even see you in those for a second, not to mention how many guys it scares away. I wouldn't be caught dead even wearing that color."

"Look, I don't want to be moved up to WWE for how I look. I want to be noticed for my wrestling." She argued back. Eva taught her that since she was so small she couldn't let people walk on her so she tried to fight back whenever she could. She never won a fight with her best friend though since Eva had such a mean personality.

"Don't talk to me like that. I'm only looking out for you. I'm just telling you that wearing those shoes makes you look like a twelve year old," Eva fought back making sure her word stung as much as possible, "WWE doesn't hire girls who won't attract guys. That is basically what the Diva's are is just eye candy for the men. If you continue wearing what you do and you do get moved up, it will just be to give everyone a laugh. You will be like that loser Diva who goes around blowing bubbles and acting like a three year old." Aj was furious. The Diva's division was not just eye candy. They were so much more. Had Eva not heard her constantly raving about her idol Lita? Maybe the Diva's division was falling a bit but once she got there she wanted to make sure that no one just thought the Divas were just a bunch of "eye candy". Eva's rant had also demolished any self esteem she had left.

After their conversation, Aj had changed the way she presented herself. She bought more heels and more tight fitting dresses, shirts, and pants. It did give her a confidence boost to have all the guys looking at her but she didn't like acting like someone she wasn't. Her once loved red Chuck Taylors hid in the bottom of her gym bag, and when she even went to touch them she was attacked with constant insults from Eva.

Aj returned from her lingering thoughts to more insults from Eva.

"You made it so obvious that you couldn't walk in those heels, I swear you weren't even trying. Oh, another thing, there is this stuff called makeup and it makes you look prettier! What the hell, you make it to the next level and you can't even hold up your image. Then I catch you back here acting like a high school cheerleader with that wannabe Kaitlyn. Do you even care about our friendsh-" she was cut off when Aj began, "Stop! Listen I made it here because I worked my ass off! If you were involved in any part of it, it just dragged me down more!" A crowd began to form around them of the cast of NXT mixed with some of the WWE superstars who were their to mentor the rookies.

"Listen you little rat, if I didn't help you look like a woman, you would be skipping around in your stupid shoes being laughed at." Eva fought back. Aj had just about enough of Eva treating her like a doormat.

"You tell me to stand up for myself and when I do you chew my head off," AJ yelled at her now former best friend. "I'm done having you point out my flaws. It would be one thing if it was constructive criticism but you have always been a flat out bitch. I put up with it for so long and now i'm walking away from you," she began to walk away, but wanted to take on a challenge she felt was given to her, "and if you think I can't get anywhere by skipping around in my "stupid shoes" ...just wait!"

Aj stormed leaving a hot headed Eva behind her. She threw herself into the locker room looking for Kaitlyn. Though her tear soaked eyes she could see she was the only one inside. While wiping her eyes she unzipped her gym bag. She took of her show clothes and put on her yoga pants, grey fleece hoodie, and laced up her neglected red Chucks. She went to the bathroom and scrubbed off any makeup that she had previously applied to her face. When her eyes were no longer red she headed outside. Once she was in the parking lot she realized that Eva was her ride there and now long gone. Kaitlyn had left earlier with her boyfriend and Aj didn't want to interrupt anything. Looking around she realized that most of the wrestlers had already left. She crouched down on the step and flipped her hood up to shut out the cold air but it was no good. She pulled out her wallet to see how much cash she had to spare but realized that she only had enough to stay at a run down motel. From her past she had no problem doing so but she would have to trek the streets in the cold for many miles to find a motel cheap enough to stay at.

As she stood up she heard the door open behind her. Out of the door appeared CM Punk. Once he saw Aj he immediately smiled remembering the small firecracker from the fight earlier. He loved how she lit up backstage after she came from the ring. He heard she was a true wrestling fan which he felt was something this company needed more of. He realized he probably looked like a creep just staring at her smiling but there was something about her that just couldn't figure out. Just being in her presence felt...right. Aj saw him smile at her and immediately felt warm. She didn't know how long they were staring at each other but she didn't know what to say. She was such a fan and didn't want to say anything stupid.

"Oh my god! You're CM Punk!"...so much for not saying anything stupid. Punk's smile just got even bigger though. Most of the rookie Divas tried to act cool and act like they didn't know him. His conceded side told him that they knew, which made them fake, which was something he hated. He realized he was still smiling and staring so he fumbled out, "Oh uhh yeah I guess I am haha," he rubbed the back of his neck knowing he needed to chill out, then continued, "You were the rookie from the argument backstage earlier right?" He knew it was probably a sore subject but he didn't know what else to say. He was too busy being a mentor to Darren Young to pay attention to the whole NXT show. His mentoring role was an on screen thing but he took it very seriously.

Aj was at loss for words. She was so embarrassed that _The_ CM Punk had witnessed her fighting on her first day. "Oh you saw that? Well I mean I guess everyone saw that...wait I didn't mean to sound like I was full of myself...I meant-"

"Nahh don't sweat it," Punk cut off the stuttering Aj, "It's not like word of it wouldn't have gotten around anyway." He then noticed she was shivering. "So I'm guessing from the fight that the other girl was your friend and I'm also going to guess that since you're still standing here means she was your ride home?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure there is a motel within walking distance. It was nice to meet you, but I'm you have got to be tired so I will just be going!" Aj didn't want to be a burden on him but as she went to walk away he lightly grabbed her arm. It sent a tingling feeling through her body, all she could think was, "Wow."

"First of all, I'm never tired," Punk stated, "Second, you are crazy if you think I'm going to let you stay at any of the motels in this area, let alone walk down the street in this weather especially at night."

Aj went to argue back but he would let her get a word in. He knew at that point he was already attached to her.

"You can stay on my tour bus. The couch turns out to be a really comfy bed. My room is a total disaster otherwise you would be sleeping there," he continued to talk, "And I know I'm a complete stranger that you have every right not to trust but-" That is when Aj cut him off, "Thank you." was all she said. The two sealed the deal with a nod. They remained quite as they walked to Punk's bus and headed inside. They both hiked the stairs and stood in the kitchen/living room/ dining room. He looked over at Aj to try reading her expression. He then quickly scanned over the room. He noticed he missed the trashcan when he went to throw a banana out earlier, left a plate out on the table, and had dirty T-shirt thrown over the back of the couch. He went right to his nervous habit and started to rub the back of his neck and peeked out over his arm at Aj again. He was relieved to see smile had appeared on her face. She then bounced over to the couch, made herself at home by grabbing a stray pillow, squeezed it to her stomach and rested her chin on it.

"I love it!" she decided. Punk gave her a weird expression. This girl was weird if she loved this dump.

"Yeah, it's a piece of work." Was all he said as he quietly sat down next to her.

"No really," Aj assured him, "It has a homey feeling to it." She continued to smile as she looked over at him. She then noticed her favorite video game by his TV.

"Oh my god no way," she squealed, "You have Metal Gear Solid!" He was surprised she knew what that was.

"Yeah it's one of my favorites," he smiled at her enthusiasm, "Personally, I would say that I am very much like Solid Snake." Aj laughed at his comment, "You are not cool enough to be anywhere near like Solid Snake!" she teased. He jokingly put a hand over his heart and put on his best "hurt" face. Then becoming panicked that there would be an awkward silence, decided to ask about her friend.

"So what was the deal with you and your friend," he carefully questioned.

"Well," Aj started, "she has always just tried to shoot me down. I'm sure you heard a lot of it during the fight."

"No I was just caught up in how hot it is to see two girls fighting," he teased. She reached over and thumped him over the head. Which caused him to pinch her, which caused her to tackle him.

"Well that escalated quickly," he chuckled. The two were now laying next to each other. He looked over at her appreciating her natural beauty. Then she looked over at him and he was frozen. Her eyes were so big, brown, and...stunning. She too was frozen staring into his memorizing green eyes. The dark bags underneath didn't frighten her. It just drew her in, wanting to know the story behind them. They slowly were moving closer and closer to each other without realizing it. Punk then allowed his eyes to dash to her lips. They looked so soft and pure. His hand reached up and cupped her smooth warm face. There lips were about to meet when Aj's phone went off. It jolted the two out of their trance and they shot up back into a sitting position. Punk cleared his throat and said, "Uhh maybe you should look at that." He looked down at his feet not believing what came over him. Aj snatched her phone and hid her blushed cheeks behind her hair.

"It's a text from Natalie." She tried to settle her voice. It read,

_I put all your stuff in a box. Don't worry I wouldn't take any of your ugly shit. I'm gunna put it outside out door tomorrow. If it's still there when I get back at 9pm I'm gunna throw it in the dumpster. _

"Well that was pleasant..." She mumbled

"What?" Punk asked not hearing her.

"Would you be able to bring me to my apartment tomorrow so she doesn't throw out my stuff?" Aj asked frantically.

"Yeah, of course," he would do anything to take the worry off her face, "you can stay here until you get settled."

"Thank you so much, I don't know how I can thank you!"

"Thank me by proving that bitch wrong," he said as he stood up. He went to the cabinet and pulled out the most comfortable blanket he could find and tossed it to her.

"Easily!" Aj promised and snuggled into the couch with the blanket and pillow. Punk was walking out back to his room when he turned around.

"And by the way," he looked over his shoulder, "I love the shoes."

Aj watched as he walked away and couldn't help but smile uncontrollably. They both became best friends after that night but couldn't deny that there was something even more special between them

**Author Note: This is my first story! I just want everyone to understand that I do the best research I can as far as characters are involved because I want to keep the facts as close to real life as possible. As far as Eva is involved in the story, I had to make up her background. Obviously she didn't do FCW with Aj but I wanted her to be one of the main villains. I hope you enjoy my story and hopefully there will be many more chapters to follow. In future chapters it will be more up to date than this, I just wanted to create a solid foundation for how Aj and CM Punk met. I hope you enjoyed the story and I would love to hear from you!**


	2. Chapter 1

"It's going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine," CM Punk offered advice to the bawling Aj Lee in his arms. He stroked her head not knowing what to do, "Just stop crying and everythings-" Aj's head shot up and stared up at him with her brown doe like eyes. Damn did he love those eyes. He couldn't help but laugh at how adorable she was when she was acting like a...crazy chick...

"Ya know what," he leaned closer towards her. He knew this was going off script but they didn't mind the WWE Champion ad-libbing every once in a while, "I sorta dig crazy chicks." He walked away and Aj couldn't believe he went of script this early in their story line. However, it was an amazing line that sent shivers down her spine. She didn't let it show though, she sniffled a few times and acted heart broken.

"Aaand that's a rap! You guys were perfect!" shouted the scene director.

"Of course we were, what else would you expect." Punk joked winking at Aj. As the filming crew started to move on to where they were filming next, Stephanie McMahon approached the chatting friends.

"I'm so glad that we came up with the idea to put you two together. There is just something about the way you guys feed off of each other," Stephanie beamed, "I can already tell that this is the beginning of something big! Oh and Punk, you went off script but it was perfect." She squeezed Aj's arm excitedly then walked off. Aj turned towards Punk and squealed. "I can't believe we actually get to work with each other!" She couldn't hold back her excitement.

Ever since she moved up to the main roster, she couldn't deny that she had been day dreaming about working with Punk. He was one of her closest friends and a genius not only as a wrestler but as an actor as well. When she would have a long script between her and Bryan Danielson, better known as Daniel Bryan, Punk would always help her memorize it and throw different ideas back and fourth about how to add more too it. He taught her different techniques and she surprised him a couple times with ideas of her own. Now that they had a story line together they were going to make it one of the best WWE fans have seen.

"You should consider yourself lucky, I've had people kill before to get a chance to work with me." Punk smirked. Aj was use to his constant sarcasm and threw him one of her "stop being an ass" looks.

"Would it kill you to say _I can't believe I get to work with someone as talented as you, Aj!_?"

"Come on," he replied, "you know that's not the type of person I am. I can't have people thinking I'm actually nice." He pretended to cringe. "But between you and me, I wouldn't want to be working with anyone else." he said which caused a smile to spread across her face. He loved msking her happy. She knew he wasn't actually a bad guy. He just voiced his opinion a lot which, in turn, pissed a lot of people off. She noticed they were smiling and staring at each other again, something they did a lot of until one of them broke it up.

"Okay, I'm gunna go find Kaitlyn so we can head to the hotel," Aj said in the middle of a yawn, "Text me!" She then skipped away.

"See ya, half-pint!" He yelled after her. It was a nickname he decided fit her short stature very well.

As he walked to the locker room he couldn't help but think about their story line. There was something about being around Aj, a type of "pull" that he couldn't explain. Maybe working with her would help him receive some sort of closure about those feelings. Was he just being protective over her when he saw the other men backstage hit on her, or was there more to it?

Aj skipped into the Diva's locker room and immediately found Kaitlyn dressed and ready to go.

"Hey girly, ready to hit the road?" Kaitlyn then noticed Aj was still in her show clothes.

"Give me three seconds!" Aj shouted through the clothes she was pulling off over her face.

"What have you been doing," Kaitlyn questioned after waiting for her best friend for over twenty minutes. She knew Aj had to film a scene but it shouldn't have taken this long. "Ohhh. You were talking to your Philly Willy!" She teased a blushing Aj.

"He is not my Philly Willy," An embarrassed Aj fought back, "He is my closest guy friend and you know that." Kaitlyn just shook her head and looked at her feet.

"Come on April. You have always had a thing for Phil. You come back after spending the day with him and all I hear about for the next three days is _Phil said the funniest thing! He's so sweet! He took me to a Cubs game! He complimented my hair but I don't think it looked that good. Do you think I should have curled it instead?_" She looked up and a now fully dressed Aj who was giving her a death stare.

"I do not do that!" Aj growled.

"I swear on all my Simpson DVD's that you do!" Kaitlyn challenged.

"Let's just get out of here," was all Aj could respond with. She obviously had the biggest crush on Punk but if he found out it would ruin their friendship. She wanted to trust Kaitlyn with her secret but she didn't want to be pushed constantly to make a move.

When the two friends were finally back at their hotel Aj could feel the tension. Kaitlyn knew Aj was keeping her feelings for Phil away from her, which pissed Kaitlyn off. They were best friends for crying out loud. Aj's guilt slowly grew and grew.

"I'm going to pick-up some food from downstairs," Aj finally said. She was starving and Kaitlyn normally drove them to a restaurant after a show. When Kaitlyn ignored her Aj continued, "Do you want anything?"

"No." was all she answered back.

"Kaitlyn come on, stop being like this. We are best friends."

"Exactly," Kaitlyn snapped, "you are my best friend yet you can't even tell me if you have a crush on someone or not! Do you not trust me? Because I think I've proven myself to be very loyal and-"

"I THINK I LOVE PHIL OKAY?!" Aj shouted then realized she yelled a little too loud.

"NO WAY!" Kaitlyn shouted suddenly happy again.

"Kaitlyn he can't find out." Aj tried to calm down her friend.

"Why April? He clearly has the hots for you too!"

"No he doesn't, I'm not his type. He dates woman like Beth, Amy, and Maria. They can intimidate others just by walking in a room and I skip around in pokemon shirts," Aj said looking down at her feet, "He knows who I am and I'm happy because I don't have to try and be someone I'm not. Yeah it keeps me from being with him but I wouldn't want a relationship where I'm not me."

Kaitlyn looked shocked at her best friend.

"How can you say that?" Kaitlyn asked, very pissed off. "You said it yourself, he knows who you are, and if I know anything about Phil it's that he is attracted to woman who are confident in themselves. Don't take yourself out already, April." She was disappointed to see her best friend so down on herself.

"Kait, I don't want to ruin our friendship. He is so incredibly amazing as a friend. If I come out and say that I have feelings for him and he doesn't have any for me then it would all be ruined." Aj said slowly, more so trying to convince herself of it.

"And what if he had feelings for you? It's worth the risk!" Kaitlyn tried to hype Aj up.

"Not right now it isn't. Maybe the story line will reveal something more between us but I'm not counting on it." Aj gave the final word.

Kaitlyn looked defeated. She knew there was no getting through to her at this point. She knew something was going to happen between Aj and Punk but she would just be there to listen to Aj for now.

"I know what would make you happier," Kaitlyn said knowingly, "..ice cream."

"Yes yes yes, please!" Aj jumped right up.

Kaitlyn left Aj alone about the whole being in love with Punk thing. Kofi and her would talk about it constantly. Kofi had yet to talk to Punk about it in fear his best friend would throw him out of their moving bus.

"All they have me doing is skipping down to the arena and watching you from the side." Aj vented to Punk as they walked into the arena together.

"Well, what would you rather grab a chair and start beating Bryan with it?" Punk teased.

"At least I would be doing something. You don't find it weird looking up and having me there staring at you?" She questioned. As a matter of fact, Punk didn't mind that. Yeah, having her at ringside always distracted him but he always pulled his best moves when she was there. He would admit that he did show off for her a lot.

"Well, I'm not suppose to tell you this yet. You are going to be tag teaming with me against Glenn and Bryan next week."

"No way!" Aj said in disbelief.

"Yes way, but you have to make out with Glenn. Which I don't approve of." Punk said trying to hide his jealousy.

"Wow, I use to have his poster above my bed. Is it weird to say I've fantasized before?" Now it was Aj's turn to tease him.

"Umm yeah!" Punk said shaking his head.

"You're just jealous because I'm not kissing you." Aj then covered her mouth with her hand, not believing what she just said. Punk's mouth fell open slightly not knowing what to say.

"Err..um..well," He started to rub the back of his neck. "I just..um..don't want Glenn to take advantage of the situation.." Punk came up with the best response he could. He knew Glenn was harmless but he couldn't think of anything else.

"Oh well don't worry. No one touches me without my permission!" Aj stated then walked into the Diva's locker room.

"That's my girl." Punk said to himself.

"Goat face?" Bryan said trying to look angry so he didn't start busting a gut laughing.

"Yeah goat face, which is good because WWE is always in need of self absorbed arrogant insecure obnoxious goat faced morons." Punk couldn't hold back a smile this time and neither could Bryan.

"So if thats going to be your new thing more power to you. It's a little wordy for a t-shirt but I wish you well. Whether you like it or not," Punk continued but was interrupted by the audience chanting "goat face". He had to appreciate the audience loving his ad-lib. He turned towards Bryan who was trying very hard to hold back a smile. The bantering continued, then Kane joined them, then all three continued to argue about the WWE Championship which Punk knew wouldn't be leaving his waist anytime soon. Punk was pulled from the boring back and fourths when he heard, "Stop, guys stop," Aj was approaching the ring and climbed in behind him. He knew she would be joining them but it still took a lot for him to get use to her being beside him on TV. She was delivering her lines flawlessly to Kane calling him a "tortured soul". Punk couldn't help but add, "You gotta love crazy chicks," continuing off mic by sarcastically saying, "He has a heart, are you sure?" Earning himself an eye roll from Aj. She couldn't let herself get distracted by him now and mess up the set up for the glorified handicap match. She moved on to Bryan saying that she would never get over her first love, which actually made her uncomfortable to say seeing as she was really good friends with Bri. She then looked over towards Punk. She let a smile seek on her face and stay there, this one was going to be the hardest line for her to say. Punk gave her a little wave, slightly nervous for what she was going to say which was, "I think I'm in love with you."

"Come-on April don't screw this up," She was telling herself. She was having so much trouble trying to come out with her line. She knew it was only a script but she felt if she said it then he would know her true feelings. Everyone was waiting and she just couldn't seem to open her mouth.

"And Punk," she finally got out. Damn she was nervous. "Well, your pretty much just the coolest guy I've ever met!"

Punk just stood there staring. He wasn't going to lie, he was a little disappointed. That wasn't her line, it was pretty cute, but why couldn't she come out with her actual line. It's not like she could forget it. He would wait to confront her about it after the show.

Backstage Aj tried to run for the locker room after their match but Punk easily caught up to her.

"Aj," he said placing a hand on her shoulder, "what was that?" He questioned.

"What was what?" she asked, playing stupid.

"You know what I'm talking about, your line." He wasn't letting her get away that quickly.

"Oh yeah, well, I just didn't think my character should fall in love that quickly," she stumbled out.

"Your character is suppose to be crazy so it shouldn't matter," he argued lightly.

"Oh so your saying that she has to be crazy to fall in love with you that quickly?" Aj panicked. Why did she just say that, maybe he would just let it go.

"What are you talking about?" Punk had no idea why she was acting so strange all of a sudden.

"Nothing, never mind. Just forget about it." Aj walked off leaving Punk unable to move. What just happened?


	3. Chapter 2

Aj was just finished changing out of her wrestling gear after performing at a house show. She was then approached by Stephanie McMahon.

"Listen Aj, you and Phil have been amazing on camera together but it has been brought to my attention that the story line may have caused some awkwardness between you two. I just want you to know that I don't normally do this but we are no longer having you and Phil on camera together," Aj just stood there frozen in place, in shock. "The writers actually have been thinking of putting you with Justin Gabriel which was why I was more open to it." This time Aj's mouth dropped open.

"Stephanie," Aj interrupted, "I appreciate it so much how you went, somewhat, out of your way for my comfort. There is a part of me that would love to accept it, but there is another part that knows I'm not going to get past this awkwardness unless I confront it head on. I guess I don't know what I want right now." Aj said looking down at her feet. Stephanie put a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, I'll leave the choice up to you. Creative is prepared for both outcomes. The night of your decision if you kiss Phil then your story line with him will continue. If you kiss Bryan, then we will go with the Justin story line. You have plenty of time to think about it!" Stephanie gave Aj a pat on the back and walked off. The decision just put more stress and fear on Aj. Kissing Punk...even if she did want to keep working with him, how would she work up the nerve to kiss him? Was Stephanie crazy? _Calm down, Aj _she thought. Her feelings would work themselves out eventually.

Aj had been avoiding Punk for the past couple of weeks. Despite acting awkward around him, on camera she didn't let it effect her. Off camera it was like she was in a trace and it was hurting Punk pretty bad. He could only think of what he might have done to cause this. He blamed himself for thinking the story line might actually be the thing to bring them together. When they had a scene together he could see the old Aj in her eyes. Punk appreciated every second of it that he saw. One day after filming after filming he turned towards Aj but she was running down the hall.

"Aj wait!" He called after her but she just acted like she couldn't hear him. When he finally got to his bus he threw his bag onto the couch, grabbed hold of his hair and let out a loud yell. An un-expecting Kofi was laying on the couch and got the awakening of a lifetime. Punk had never seen Kofi that scared before.

"Well good to see you too!" Kofi said holding a hand to his chest to make sure his heart didn't bust out.

"I need your help." Punk said looking at Kofi, very distressed.

"Okay so I would just talk to Aj. I mean I'm sure she is nervous about the whole story line thing because, c'mon anyone would be if there love interest was as ugly as you," Kofi teased Punk.

"Wait, I didn't mention anything about Aj or my situation." Punk said nervously. He wondered if he talked in his sleep.

"Dude, how you feel about Aj is written all over your face when you see her," Kofi began his rant, "You can be in the worse mood and when she walks over you turn into butter. And everyone has noticed her acting strangely recently so clearly you did something wrong." Kofi tried to teased him again but Punk remained stoic.

"I don't want to lose her." Punk said after a couple minutes of silence.

"Then talk to her!" Kofi urged.

"The story line is making her uncomfortable because she obviously doesn't like thinking of me as anything other than a friend." Punk decided.

"You don't know that," Kofi replied.

"What do you suggest I do then? Go up to her and say "Oh hey Aj! So I just wanted you to know that I've had the biggest crush on you since I met you and it has developed into what many people would call love. So yeah you can go back to avoiding me now and have an actual reason for it!" Does that sound good to you?" Punk asked very tense.

"Yeah that would work for me," Kofi smiled, "did you ever think that maybe she is just nervous because she has to play her feelings out to you in front of the world."

"You think that she actually likes me?" Punk asked

"I know she does. Why else would she be acting weird?"

"I'll talk to her tomorrow." Punk decided.

Kofi hadn't wanted to spill his best friends secret but he knew how thick headed Aj and Punk were. He shot a text to Kaitlyn.

_Phil's got the love bug. Go for the kill._

Kailyn was in her hotel room waiting for Aj to get out of the shower when she received Kofi's text. She nodded as if Kofi could see her and sat quietly waiting. When Aj finally appeared Kaitlyn began the fight.

"Aj, you do know that you're avoiding him right? He's going to know something's up and figure it out sooner or later." She said

"Kait, I need more time to figure everything out, you know how much pressure i'm under!" Aj said rather annoyed.

"Look, I'm not suppose to say anything but Kofi just texted me. We decided that when Phil finally admits his feelings for you we were going to do anything to get you two together. Since you refuse to talk to him I guess I'm going to be giving you a spoiler alert for your later conversation. The guys in love with you!" Kaitlyn finished. Aj was at a loss for words. Finally she yelled, "NO WAY!" Aj and Kaitlyn were dancing around the room jumping and screaming finally they both fell on the bed.

"This is the best day ever." Aj said with a sigh.

The next day Aj woke up with a smile on. Once she was done with her morning routine she was going to talk to Phil today and straighten everything out. She brushed her teeth, pulled her hair back into a pony tail, put on her running clothes, and laced up her sneakers. She was in such a rush to get her run over with that she didn't notice she was being watched from a distance. Justin Gabriel knew that he had to get Aj to pick him over Punk. He worked hard to convince the writers him and Aj would work good together and he even ratted about her and Punk to Stephanie. He had to make this work. He began to jog until he was next to her, "Hi Aj!" He said with the biggest smile he could make.

"Ahh!" Aj yelled not even noticing anyone was around her. She stopped dead in her tracks then bent over to catch her breath.

"Justin, you scared me!" She yelled.

"I'm so sorry! I just heard that we were working together and decided I should get to know you more!" He said trying to sound as excited as possible.

"Oh," Aj stood up straight and took a deep breath in, "well I decided that I was going to continue working with Phil. I feel like our story line has more potential." Aj felt bad turning down the guy but she didn't love him like she loved Phil. Justin fought harder, "I know it's easier to be in a story line with the WWE champion, but c'mon Aj the guy is a total jerk."

Aj was slightly offended by his comment, "No he's not. When you actually get to know him he's not bad at all. He's actually really sweet and caring." She fought back. Justin knew he had her in a good place now, vulnerable.

"Ohhh I see what has happened here," he began, "He's doing the same thing to you that he did with Kelly." He acted like he knew what he was talking about.

"What do you mean," Aj was confused, "Phil never dated Kelly it was just an on screen thing."

"Exactly, Phil doesn't date sweet people. He just fools around with them. Girls like Lita are a challenge for him so he has to end up dating them to get in their pants. And sweet girls like yourself, it's like a piece of cake for him," He stopped briefly to let it sink into Aj's head. He didn't think she was this gulable, she really did have to like him. "I even heard he told Kelly he loved her." That one hit home for Aj. It took everything in her not to cry.

"Umm I have to go Justin, I'll see you later." Aj began to slowly walk back to the hotel. Justin knew his mission had been accomplished then walked away.

Later that day, it was show time. Aj was waiting in the makeup chair. She was told by many higher ups that it looked like she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. What had really happened was when she went back to her hotel room she cried her eyes out. She looked in the mirror. She looked at her red puffy eyes and the purple bags hanging beneath them. She was so busy figuring out what needed to be done to look acceptable that she didn't notice Punk walk up behind her.

"Aj, please don't run away." He said. She could hear the sadness in his voice. She turned around and gave a weak smile, "Hi Phil," her voice cracked. She enver thought he would be the type that would try and use her. As long as she knew him he never acted like that, but it all made perfect sense. Her and Kelly were very much alike. Both were innocent and small. Both unlike Lita and Maria. Both CM Punk girls on TV but nothing backstage, until he claimed he loved them.

He was shocked by how stressed out she not only looked but sounded. "April, I have been building up a lot of courage to say this and I don't normally have trouble telling people how I feel about them and you know that," He tried to joke around but she wasn't in any laughing mood. He slowly continued, "I really like you and you have been my good friend for a while but I want to be more than your friend. I really really like you, Aj." He finished. Aj thought a while before she answered.

"I'm guessing that's what you told Kelly too." was all she said. She felt uncomfortable putting him in this postion but she needed to protect herself.

"Wait, what?" He questioned. He was never that good of friends with Kelly, why would she bring that up?

"You told her you liked her just to get her to hook up with you. Are you using me now too? Because i'm not strong enough like Amy to turn you away?" She let herslef fly off the handle a little bit there. She began to shake then realized Punk was just staring bewildered at her.

"You think I'm just trying to hook up with you? You really think that low of me? The only time I talked to Kelly was during our story line, and it was strictly storyline." Punk argued. He heart tore up talking to her like that, but why did she think he was a douche bag after knowing him for so long?

"That's what Justin told me. He was trying to protect me!" Aj let herself get wrapped up in the heat of the moment.

"So, you are going to let this guy manipulate you into working with him, change your perspective of me, and make you think worse of yourself. You really have changed. The Aj I fell for was confident and wouldn't let someone talk down to her " He stopped to see what she had to say. Aj realized she was crying. Her lips were trembling. She fought hard to keep her posture. She was so confused. He was right, she wasn't acting like herself at all. She had been frantic for so long and now she had to come face to face with all her problems and her brain was on over load. She knew one hing was certain tonight and she wanted to make him away of it. "Tonight, I have to make a decision. If I kiss Bryan, then my story line with you will be over and I pink up a story line with Justin," She paused to look at his face. His lips formed into a hard line, arms crossed. She continued, "If I kiss you, our story line goes on." She wanted him to be the old Punk who would help make her decision easier. She knew that would be the case though.

"Well, looks like we found the reason Justin got involved," Punk rolled his eyes, "and it also looks like you have a choice to make." With that he left the room without a word. Aj sat there. She knew what the easier, less scary decision was. She knew what the frightening life changing story was. She made up her mind. Punk knew that nothing would come easy with Aj. She was clearly stressed out and he knew she had bad anxiety. Was she someone worth fighting for?

The lights were on Aj's bright, happy face. The way the makeup artist intended for it to look, red eye free. She skipped to the ring and began her lines with Michael Cole sexually harassing her. Then Bryan came out and acted as her savior from the creepy old man. That's when Punk's music hit. She took in the sounds of the crowd, how he entered the ring. It would be the last time she was seeing it. All three exchanged lines about Aj being crazy.

"I'm worried about you, Aj. You're not in a good place mentally," Punk paused for a moment knowing what he was about to say wasn't in the script, hopefully the audience would think he was talking about their story line. "And maybe some of it is my fault. I certainly should have said something about it a lot sooner and because I didn't, I'm sorry," He paused. She froze. Those weren't his lines. She knew he was referring to his feelings for her and her stress about their current situation. He was taking responsibility. He quickly continued on with their set script saying she needed professional help. Then he broke from the script again.

"I'm not going to string you along just to get something I want. You don't deserve that, you're a sweet girl." Punk added in. He wanted her to know that he truly did care about her, hopefully his words would get through to her. His lines stuck out like a sore thumb to Aj. She tried her best to hold back tears. He was going to say more but he was cut off by Bryan, "WHAT A LOAD OF GARBAGE!" Clearly Punk should have informed Bryan of what he was doing. Bryan just thought they were ditching the script and decided to play up his heel side. His words confused Aj even more, her brain was shutting down.

"I know what you're doing," Bryan continued. Punk would give anything to have him shut up right there. He knew what Bryan was going to say would get into Aj's head.

"You're just trying to make an end run here. Playing all passive aggressive like you actually care about Aj." He stopped for a moment for dramatic effect. It certainly had a dramatic effect on Aj. The two superstars sounded like her thoughts fighting back and fourth about her decision. She came out here thinking she had her mind made up, then Punk came out and changed that, now it's flipping back. She wanted to grab her head and scream. _I can do that right?_ She thought, _It would go good with my character. _But she was interrupted by Bryan yelling some more.

"You don't care about Aj, I care about Aj!" He yelled. Punk just shook his head and tried telling Bryan to stop but Bryan was just too wrapped up in his character.

"Here he is ladies and gentlemen, playing the good guy." He continued. Aj just had her head down trying to process everything going on. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had steam coming out of her ears. Her decision was getting closer and she had to figure out what she wanted to do.

"Let me tell you a little something about CM Punk," Bryan, again, began. Punk couldn't believe his "friend" right now. "The only thing he cares about is CM Punk." Bryan finally finished. Punk knew that his last line would seal his deal with Aj. He went to jump at Bryan but Aj push on his chest a little then looked into his eyes. He knew what she was going to do and could only take a step back and watch something so important to him fall apart.

Aj knew the easier option. She left a hand on Bryan's chest and slowly took her last glance at CM Punk. She then turned to look at Bryan. This didn't feel right. Almost as if she was being forced, she reached up and began to kiss him. Making her decision. Punk could feel his heart tear in half. He stood there for a moment watching Aj's decision. In the end, he couldn't do it, he couldn't show her he was the good guy. He began the painful process of exiting the ring.

As she was kissing Bryan, she knew this was the wrong decision. This wasn't the man she was suppose to kiss. If kissing Punk meant putting her full faith in him, laying her heart out on the line, and risking a side of Punk coming out that she didn't know existed; then she was ready for that adventure. She spun around and saw he was now out of the ring. She couldn't let him get away. She rushed over, jumped out of the ring, and spun him around as forcefully as she could. He was surprised to turn around to see the petite diva standing behind him. She was just staring at him, he stared at her.

"What?" He asked. That's when she unexpectedly jumped up and pulled him towards her face. Her lips crushed against his. It was a moment they had both been desiring for so long. The way their lips moved together was perfectly in sync. She grabbed his shoulder roughly, wanting more. He wrapped his arms around her deepening the kiss. The didn't know how long they kissed for but it didn't feel long enough. Aj remembered they were on TV and slowly pulled back, which made her crave him even more. She took a deep breath then looked up to a smiling Punk. Now it was Punks turn to be overwhelmed. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

**Editors Note: I've been working hard on this chapter all week. I know she kisses Punk previous to the kiss I wrote in as their "first kiss" but I've always wanted this to have been their first kiss, the beauty of fan fiction haha! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for your comments/favorites/follows. All of them mean so much to me! Those who want a spoiler alert keep reading...**  
**So we are introduced to a new potential villain, Justin Gabriel, but don't worry Eva Marie will return. It may be a couple chapters though, I want to focus on the romantic aspect of the story first!**


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